


The Stones That Bind Us (like stars in the night sky)

by Reiya_Wakayama



Category: Hikaru no Go
Genre: Alternate Universe, Car Accidents, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Go nerds kissing, Hikaru loves Sai no matter their relatinship, M/M, Minor Character Death, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Sadness, Sai is not a ghost, Sai is the best uncle!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-13
Updated: 2020-11-13
Packaged: 2021-03-10 05:08:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 19,354
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27538876
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Reiya_Wakayama/pseuds/Reiya_Wakayama
Summary: Fujiwara Sai has just won his final match that will allow him to battle Touya Meijin for the 10-dan title when he receives word that will change his life and the life of his nephew, Shindō Hikaru, forever. A self-proclaimed bachelor for life, he’s never had anything to do with children, aside from teaching Go to them. He’s not sure if he’s up to the task, but he doesn’t have much choice in the matter. Can he help his nephew through this tragedy or will he end up making matters worse?
Relationships: Fujiwara no Sai & Shindou Hikaru, Fujiwara no Sai/Ogata Seiji, Shindou Hikaru/Touya Akira
Comments: 13
Kudos: 86





	The Stones That Bind Us (like stars in the night sky)

**Author's Note:**

> Sai is Shindō Mitsuko’s brother and has been estranged for some time in this AU. Also, his personality and mannerisms are changed a bit because in this, he not a Heian Period Go master who’s lived two life times and is starting his third. He’s from modern times, so of course he will act somewhat differently, but he’s still a Go nerd and a kind man and he loves Hikaru.
> 
> I just love this series and Sai would make the best uncle. I tried to follow the events of the manga but some things changed. Without Sai/Hikaru to spark the rivalry between Touya and Shindō, their relationship starts off much better and is less confrontational, though they still argue of course. I’m not sure if Touya Meijin will retire in this AU since there’s no ghost Sai to challenge him, though this Sai is coming up there. I also played a little loose with who wins/challenges for the titles since Sai is now a contender for them and would put a crimp in anyone’s plans to fight for them.
> 
> Also, I didn’t expect this to go Sai/Ogata, but it fit and I kind of like this pairing, though I’ve only read a few fics with the pairing. Also, hints of Hikaru/Akira towards the end.

The silence between the two players is intense as they observe the board in front of them. Sai eyes his opponent over his fan, Ogata Seiji 9-dan, with a critical eye and wonders if the man realizes that it is time to resign.

Pale eyes flick over the board, a frown marring the blonde’s expression before his hands clench into fists in his lap and he bows, “I have nothing,” he murmurs and applause breaks out as the silent tension is broken.

Sai sits back with a soft sigh, feeling the tension in his shoulders uncoil now that the match is decided. “You are a monster on the board, Fujiwara-san,” Ogata murmurs, face pinched but respect for a worthy opponent shining in his eyes.

“You are too kind,” he says with a small smile. “You almost had me here,” he points to the lower right corner. “If you had cut me off here instead of holding back, you would have certainly made me falter for a moment. This here was a brilliant trap too. I very nearly didn’t see it in time. You have earned your 9-dan status,” he murmurs with a bow.

“Hump, but you did see it and now you get to face Touya-sensei. He won’t be so easy to beat. Best not rest on your laurels just yet,” Ogata murmurs.

“I don’t plan on it,” Sai says with a faint grin.

“Fujiwara-san,” someone calls out and he looks to see Amano standing at the door, a heavy frown on his face.

“If you’ll excuse me,” Sai says with a murmur and bows before walking quickly over to Amano. “Amano-san, what did you need to discuss?” he asks easily, feeling languid after such a tense game.

“Fujiwara-san, I’m sorry to be the barer of bad news. Kuzidachi Hospital just called…there’s been an accident, I…I’m sorry but, your sister, brother-in-law and her father-in-law were killed in the accident,” he murmurs quietly, keeping the news between them.

“What?” Sai demands in a whisper, blood leaving his face as he pales, heart racing at the news. “Amano, I need to know where,” he demands sharply, voice rising enough to catch other people’s eyes.

“Here, I have it written down,” he says handing him a small sheet of paper. “They’re expecting you. Your nephew, Hikaru, was the only one to pull through but they told me he was in surgery. I’m sorry for your loss.”

Sai doesn’t hear the last few words, ears ringing as he rushes from the room towards where his things are stored. Quickly stuffing his feet into his shoes, he grabs his bag and runs from the building, uncaring as people stare. _‘Mitsuko,’_ he thinks as he quickly pulls out his phone.

He had turned it to silent for the game and when he pulls it out, he finds three missed calls and voice messages: one is from the police, two from the hospital, telling him about the accident and later their deaths. The call from the police tells him he has been listed as guardian of his nephew and that has him pausing on the sidewalk before he pushes it aside, quickly dialing the hospital’s phone number and informing them that he is on his way.

~*~

Sai rushes through the main doors of the hospital, long legs eating up the distance to the main reception desk. “Hello, please, I’m Fujiwara Sai. I was called about an accident, my nephew is here,” he rushes out the words, winded from the run here from the station.

“Yes, please, just a moment,” the woman at the desk murmurs, quickly taping away at her computer. “He just came out of surgery it seems. If you’ll wait over there in the waiting area, I will page his doctor to come speak with you,” she murmurs, gesturing to a side area where other people are sitting, waiting.

He can’t sit though, and paces from one side of the room to the other, ignoring the looks sent his way as he tries to keep his spiraling thoughts from getting out of hand. “Fujiwara-san,” a woman’s voice calls out and he turns to see a small woman in a white coat with scrubs underneath it. Small glasses rest on her nose and she looks tired, the bun her hair is in is askew.

“Yes, please,” he says, rushing towards her. “What happened?” he demands, frantic with unanswered questions.

“Please, calm yourself,” she says quietly and he pauses, taking a deep breath, though his hands still shake. “My name is Dr. Uchina Suki; I was the main surgeon in the surgery. Your nephew is out of surgery. There were signs of minor whiplash, a few lacerations and some bruising on his head as well. He broke his arm in multiple places and dislocated the shoulder as well. We had to place pins to hold it together, but he will make a full recovery, though he will need to have physical therapy afterwards.”

He sighs a little at that worry put to rest. “Can you tell me what happened?” he asks quietly and she gets a sympathetic look on her face.

“The police said there was a drunk driver. He was driving over the limit and they hit in a head on collision. Heihachi-san and Masao-san were killed on impact. Hikaru-san and Mitsuko-san were in the back and survived the initial crash but…Mitsuko-san’s injuries were too severe and she bled out internally on the way to the hospital. Hikaru-san is the only survivor,” she murmurs, looking pained to give such news. “I am deeply sorry for your loss.”

“I…can I go see him?” he asks softly, clenching his hands to hide their trembling.

“Not just yet. He is still being set up in his room but someone will come escort you there soon,” she explains and he nods in understanding. “If there are any questions, just ask for me and I will make myself available,” she says softly and steps away.

Sai keeps pacing after she leaves until a nurse finds him and escorts him down a labyrinth of halls before finally stopping before a closed door. The shades in the window are drawn and the lights have been turned down. Inside, he sees his nephew for the first time.

 _‘He’s young’_ , is his first thought, taking in the rounded face, bleached bangs and small frame that seems tinier than it should be on such a large bed. Wires and tubes are connected in different places and the sound of a heart monitor beeps regularly in the background. His right arm, from his hand up to his shoulder is casted. A few cuts can be seen bandaged on his neck.

“When will he wake?” he asks the nurse.

“It’s hard to give an exact time, but once the anesthetic wears off, it won’t be too long before he wakes, hopefully,” she tries to assure. “I’ll leave you alone. If you need anything, I’ll be at the desk down the hall.” He nods absently, already stepping further into the room.

The door shuts and he is left alone with a boy he has never met and is now responsible for. Sighing, he drags a chair to the side of the bed least cluttered with wires and gently grasps Hikaru’s hand. “I’m sorry,” he murmurs. Who he’s saying it to, he’s not sure but no one answers, or sees the tears streaking his cheeks as he sits silently holding Hikaru’s hand.

~*~

“This is Amano,” Amano murmurs tiredly into the phone.

“Ah, Amano-san, this is Fujiwara Sai,” Sai speaks over the line, his voice sounding strained.

“Fujiwara-san, I’m sorry for your loss. What can I do for you?” he asks.

“Ah, thank you,” he says back. “I…I know it’s last minute and that the date for the final match has been set for two weeks from now, but…would it be possible to reschedule it for a week later than that?” he asks, sounding drained.

“Maybe, we will have to speak with Touya Meijin to approve the change but it’s not impossible, Fujiwara-san,” he explains.

“Of course, of course, please keep me informed. I’ll have my phone on me if you need to reach me,” he says, sounding grateful.

“I will, goodbye,” he says and Sai murmurs farewell before the line goes dead.

Amano sits there quietly, rubbing his face in exhaustion. He’s been working most of the day and well into the evening but…to lose so many family members in one accident. His heart feels heavy in sympathy for the man.

Straightening, he pulls up Touya Meijin’s contact and starts the call. “Hello, this is Touya,” a deep voice answers.

“Touya-san, this is Amano from the Institute,” he says.

“Amano-san, yes, hello, how can I help you?’ he asks.

“Ah, there has been a bit of a development in the 10-dan tournament,” he explains.

“Yes,” he says simply for him to continue.

“Fujiwara 9-dan won the match against Ogata 9-dan but he has had a death in the family and is asking if it will be possible to push the match back a week to give him time to take care of family matters and prepare himself for the match,” he explains.

“I see no problems with that. Family is more important. Please, make the arrangements and I’ll arrange my schedule around it. Please send my condolences,” he agrees.

“I will, and thank you,” Amano says and hangs up, before dialing Sai’s number.

~*~

It’s ten in the morning and Sai is already on his third cup of coffee and has barely eaten anything since he arrived late last night. He didn’t get much sleep, too wound up to rest for more than an hour before he was back awake and holding Hikaru’s hand again. With the exhaustion from the high stakes game the day before and the long night, he’s running on fumes right now.

He’s just shutting the door behind him when a soft groan comes from the bed. He whirls around to see pale grey peeking from under laden eyelids as Hikaru slowly wakes up. His face is pinched, confusion written across it as he takes in his surroundings. “Where am I?” he asks softly.

“You’re in Kuzidachi Hospital. You were in a bad accident,” Sai explains softly, sitting in his chair.

“Who are you?” he asks, frowning in Sai’s direction.

“I-I’m your uncle, Fujiwara Sai,” he says, bracing for the questions to come.

“My uncle?” he asks, confused. “Where…where are mom and dad…and grandpa?” he asks, glancing around as if expecting them to jump from behind the medical machines.

“Hikaru…I’m so sorry. Your mother and father and grandfather were killed in the accident,” he murmurs, ripping the bandage off in one go.

“What?” he asks in confusion. “But, they were…they can’t…no, they can’t be…” his words trailing off as he struggles to sit up, straining with his arm and shoulder casted. “Mom! Dad! Grandpa! Where are you?” he yells, frantic as his heart monitor speeds up, his heart beat accelerating.

The door opens suddenly, two nurses hustling into the room, one pressing him back against the bed as the other messes with his IV. “Shindō-san, please, you must calm down,” the woman is whispering as Hikaru struggles weakly against her strength.

“No…no, they can’t be…they…” his words and struggles fade slowly as whatever the man added to his IV takes affect and he gently slumps back to the bed, head lolling, but though he’s asleep, his face remains pinched, a few tear sliding down his cheeks.

Sai just sits there, staring with his hand pressed against his mouth, fighting back his own tears as the nurses move silently around them.

~*~

Sai stands silently beside Hikaru as people come up to give their condolences. Except for when spoken directly to, Hikaru hasn’t spoken to him once as he arranged the funerals for the boy’s family. He just stands there, glaring sullenly with an apathetic stare as each person comes forward.

The only time he seems to show any sign of emotion is when a girl his age comes up, “Hikaru, I’m so sorry,” she whispers, hugging him and the boy grips her jacket tightly but doesn’t do anything else.

Over the next week and a half, the two of them, with the help of a few friends of the family, proceed to go through the two houses, deciding what to keep and what to toss. Hikaru still isn’t talking and spends most of the time outside, refusing to help and just shrugging when anyone asks if he wants to keep something.

Sai does his best, keeping anything that looks like a memento or important to the family. He finds Mitsuko’s cook book and nearly breaks down, recalling her desire to become a famous cook when they were younger. It never happened though.

Their parents were very old fashioned and it was expected of her to marry right out of high school and she never got to fulfil her dreams. He’s regretting cutting ties with her even more now. He also finds two gobans at Heihachi’s home. One is more modern and well used. The other is stored up in the attic of a shed, wrapped in cloth and tucked away. It’s old, very old and he feels sad to see such an old goban gathering dust. Taking both and Heihachi’s awards for his tournament wins, he packs them away to take with them.

The last night of packing finds him and Hikaru alone for once, the others having left to go to their own homes. They’re eating takeout since all the cooking ware and dishes have been either packed away or given to charity. “How…how are you doing?” Sai asks hesitantly.

Hikaru just shrugs one shoulder, closing the lid on his food and setting it down, no longer hungry. The only things left in his childhood home are a few remaining boxes and two futons for them to sleep on. A lawyer had come two days before with their wills and the deeds to the houses.

He had considered moving into one, to let Hikaru remain close to where he grew up, but when he had asked the boy, he’d simple shaken his head and walked out of the house. He hasn’t decided if he’ll sell them or maybe turn them into rentals. Right now, he just doesn’t care.

Sighing softly, he copies the boy and turns to face him fully. “I…I know that this is not exactly what you want and that I’m basically a stranger, but I hope that we might get to know each other better and become a family,” he says softly.

“Whatever,” Hikaru mutters, hands fisting, though one can’t close all the way around the cast.

“I know this has been hard for you, Hikaru, but,” he kneels closer to him, “it’s okay to cry. It’s not shameful or wrong. They were your family and now they’re gone and I know crying won’t bring them back but you still want to.”

“What do you care?” he yells, standing in a rush of emotion. His face is red as he breathes faster. “You were never there. I didn’t even know you _existed_ and now you suddenly want to be a family! They were…they…” He can’t seem to finish his words, throat closing up as tears streak down his cheeks and he collapses to his knees.

Sai rushes towards him, pulling him into a hug. “I know, and I’m sorry, but I’ll make up for it, I promise.”

“They’re all gone,” Hikaru croaks out, his throat tight with tears as he clutches at Sai as if he’ll float away if he doesn’t.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” Sai repeats, over and over as the boy finally cries for the family he lost.

~*~

The next morning comes with awkward shuffling and glances, but the tension from before has lessened. Hikaru is at least talking to him a little as they eat and finish packing the last boxes and their futons into the moving truck.

Hikaru is silent as Sai drives away from the home and heads for Tokyo where his own house is. About an hour into the drives, Hikaru sighs and turns to face him in his seat, the seatbelt catching awkwardly on his cast. “How come I never heard of you?” he demands with a frown.

Sai gives a humorless laugh. “It’s a little complicated, but the main gist is that I went against our parents’ wishes and I was cut from the family,” he says with a shrug.

“What, why?” he demands with a huff.

“Our parents were old fashioned and I was expected to take a respectable job and ‘not play games all day’ as mother always put it. When I said I wouldn’t do as they asked, they gave an ultimatum: do as they asked or they would kick me out of the house. I chose to leave and I never looked back,” Sai explains, keeping his eyes on the road. That had been an easy choice. He would never give up Go, no matter what they said. The hard part had been leaving Mitsuko behind.

“So what do you do then?” he asks.

“I’m a Go pro. I play it for a living,” he explains.

“Grandpa played Go. He won awards,” Hikaru says, voice sounding distant as he remembers.

“I saw them. I…would have liked to have met him and played a game or two,” he admits.

“How come you never visited?’ Hikaru asks softly.

Sai lets out a long sigh, running a hand through his long hair, wincing when he tugs a knot. “I didn’t want to make Mitsuko choose as well. She loved our parents and I did, for the most part, and it would have hurt her more to cut ties with them. And…after they passed away, well, it just seemed like too much time had passed. We were virtually strangers by then. She still sent me a few cards though, to let me know how she was doing,” he admits.

That’s not the whole truth. Their father passed not long after he left and he had come back for the funeral only because of Mitsuko but his mother had refused to let him in and he had stormed off in anger at her. He never did see Mitsuko then.

The last time he saw her was at their mother’s funeral six years ago. He had arrived unannounced, slipping in to not make a fuss. Mitsuko had been alone, her husband busy at work and Hikaru still in school and not wanting to come. She had been crying gently, eyes red but still composed. She had seen him and tried to talk but he had run away like a coward, afraid to talk to her.

His hands clench on the steering wheel at the memories and he has to take a deep breath to calm himself down. “I wish I could have seen her one last time,” he admits softly, brushing away a few tears.

“You say you play Go for a living. Are you any good?” he asks when the silence gets too long.

“You could say that. I’m a 9-dan and I have a match soon for the 10-dan title,” he admits.

“Is 10-dan very high?” he asks.

“It’s the highest one can go in dan,” Sai explains. “There other titles as well: Meijin, Ouza, Honinbou. Strong Pros all battle it out for the chance to challenge the title holder.”

“Sounds tough,” he admits, but doesn’t seem too interested.

“It is, but the money and fame are good incentive, though I play more for the challenge than for the first two. A good game should be its own reward,” he adds.

“You really get paid to play Go?” he asks.

“Hm, different tournaments and title matches comes with large prizes for winning. Plus, there are events held all over Japan and we get paid to attend. It can be a hectic life at times, but it is very rewarding,” Sai admits.

“So if you win this 10-dan title thing, you’re going to be rich?” he asks.

“Yes, I will get a lot of money, but like I said, money is second to me,” he insists with a huff, glancing out of the corner of his eye to see Hikaru watching him. “Maybe I should teach you to play if you’re so interested to win some money.”

“Nah, I’ve never really been interested in Go,” he says with a shrug, “Though grandpa tried to teach me once.”

“What are you interested in then?” he asks lightly, trying to get to know the boy better.

“Well, I was hoping to try for baseball, but…the doctors said that probably won’t happen after busting my arm up,” he admits softly, sounding resigned.

“I’m sorry to hear that. Maybe once you finish your physical therapy, they might have a different prognosis,” he tries to console and Hikaru shrugs and retreats back into silence.

Sighing morosely, Sai turns his full attention back onto the road and they finish the drive in silence.

~*~

Silence reigns around them as he stares down at the board in front of him, searching, searching for some way to turn this match around. But nothing is standing out, no ‘ah ha!’ moments of inspiration. Just the slow and inevitable defeat to his white stones should he keep playing until the end.

With a frustrated snap of his fan closing, he sighs and bows, “I have nothing.”

The silence breaks as the group applauds Touya Meijin’s successful defense of the 10-dan title. Pushing the simmering frustration out of his mind, he looks up with a smile. “It was a wonderful game, Touya-san and it was an honor to face you.”

“Likewise, hopefully the next time we face each other, you won’t be distracted and can bring your full ability to the board,” he murmurs, dark eyes seeing more than the others have.

Sai’s shoulders tense and he forces himself to relax, bowing in acknowledgement of the man’s words. He is distracted, recent events weighing heavy on his mind. “I look forward to it,” he responds and let’s himself become distracted with the post-game discussion.

Finally, he manages to extract himself from the group and makes his way towards the observation room where he had placed Hikaru earlier. There are still things to do today, paperwork to fill out, but he couldn’t avoid this match and was forced to bring him along.

“I’m sorry you had to wait so long, Hikaru-kun,” he murmurs, stepping into the room to see it occupied by a small group of Insei and a few other Pros.

“Fujiwara-san, that was an excellent game,” one of them speaks up and the others murmur agreement.

“Thank you,” he says with a faint bow and then turns back to Hikaru who has a book in his lap but looks as if he has been paying more attention to the TV in the room rather than his book.

“You lost?” he asks as they make their way towards the elevators.

“Unfortunately, yes, but it happens. Someone wins and someone loses. But, I’ll try again next year and there are other preliminaries for other titles coming up soon that I’m scheduled for,” he explains as the door opens and he maneuvers the distracted boy into the lift.

“You must have a busy schedule,” he admits, seeming shocked that someone playing a game could have so much planned.

“I do, though I have asked to have my schedule limited some so I can have more time for you. You come first and foremost right now,” he says with a serious expression, purple eyes staring down at the boy.

“Oh,” he says, looking a little flustered. “Thanks, I guess.”

They’re silent for most of the trip down before Hikaru speaks up, “I wouldn’t mind coming to see some of your games…if you wanted me to,” he admits softly, not looking at Sai.

“I would like that,” Sai says and leads him from the building towards the station.

~*~

Sai sighs as they exit the school premises. “Let’s see: Game, lawyers, school,” he mutters, making a mental list. “I think that’s everything for today.”

“Oh thank god,” Hikaru mutters, looking tired.

“Sorry, I wasn’t expecting for it to be so much,” he apologizes, glancing down to the multiple folders tucked under his arm from both the school and the lawyers. He has so much paperwork to fill out tonight. “Alright, let’s grab some dinner. What are you in the mood for?” he asks, looking at Hikaru.

“Ramen?” he asks hopefully.

“Ramen it is,” Sai declares. “There’s a small stand near our exit station that I’ve had before and it’s very good,” he says, leading the way towards the train station.

~*~

“I’m back,” Hikaru calls from the front door, toeing his shoes off.

“Welcome home,” Sai calls distractedly from further in where he’s sitting before a goban with a game set up, studying the flow of the moves. “How was your first day of school?” he asks as Hikaru pauses in the doorway.

“It was alright,” he says with a shrug. “It’s hard to write with my left hand though,” he admits, tugging at the cast at his wrist.

“I’m sure,” Sai admits.

“What’re you doing?” Hikaru asks, tossing his bag aside to walk closer.

“Recreating an old game to study it,” he explains, holding up a kifu for Hikaru to see.

“This was from twenty years ago?” he asks, noting the date.

“Yes, I like to study older games, to see how I can incorporate different moves into my own games. It’s common for those serious about Go to study older games. There have been many amazing players over the years, dating back decades and even centuries, though the further back you go, the fewer kifu there are,” Sai explains with an easy smile. “Are you hungry?” he asks.

“No, I grabbed something on the way home,” he replies, still looking down at the board. “So the numbers mean which was played first?”

“Yes, red is white. Some games are never recorded but important games, like for title matches or for tournaments, are recorded on kifu and preserved for other to examine,” Sai says as he stands with a stretch.

“How is your arm feeling? Did you need to take any of your pain killers?” he asks gently.

“Ah, it’s fine, but I took one at lunch,” he admits, looking away.

“I scheduled your examine for a few weeks from now and they should hopefully take the cast off. After that, you’ll have physical therapy twice a week,” he says, walking towards a nearby table that is littered with paperwork.

“Okay,” he murmurs distractedly, still looking at the board.

“Do you want to learn?” Sai asks a little hopeful.

“What, oh, I don’t know, maybe later,” Hikaru shrugs off the question. “I’ve already got homework so I’m going to go start on that.” He grabs his bag and disappears down the hall towards his room.

~*~

“I’m glad you asked me to play again,” Sai murmurs from his cushion on the opposite side of the goban. The screens to the left of him are thrown open to the warm afternoon sun and the garden just outside. It’s very peaceful.

“You are a formidable opponent, we can teach each other much,” Touya Meijin replies with a nod, “Though you’re still distracted,” he murmurs, looking back at their previous game.

“I…yes, I am,” Sai admits with a sigh, sounding long suffering. “I never expected to be responsible for a child,” he admits softly, finger tracing the edge of his cup of tea.

“Your nephew?” Touya asks with an understanding nod.

“Yes. After everything that happened, I’m trying to be supportive and help him but, I don’t know if I’m actually helping or just messing things up more,” he gushes out, finally having someone to speak to about this.

“Children are…resilient,” Touya says after a long pause. “And the fact that you are there will help. Give him time, it’s only been a few months,” he advices.

“I guess,” he snorts, “maybe I’m the one who needs help. He seems to be doing better than I am,” he says with a dour look at the previous game.

“Parenthood is always distracting. I was the same after Akira was born. I remember going to games after sleepless nights and losing a few matches,” Touya admits with a faint smile.

“How is Touya-san doing? I hear he has decided to wait to take the Pro exam,” Sai says with a smile. He’s met the fierce child prodigy a couple of time, though he hasn’t had the pleasure of playing him.

“Improving every game,” Touya says with a note of pride in his voice.

“I’m glad to hear that,” Sai murmurs and they turn to discussing other things.

~*~

“I’m home,” Hikaru calls out as he comes home, letting his bag slip from his shoulder. No reply comes from further in the house. “Hmm, guess his game ran late,” he murmurs and heads towards the kitchen.

It’s been four months since his world changed and he’s gotten used to living with his uncle. He frowns, looking around the kitchen for a note. Sai always leaves one if he knows ahead of time if he’s going to be late. Guessing where it might be, he looks in the fridge to see a small snack prepared for him and a note folded next to it. _‘Going to be a little late today. Enjoy!’_ He huffs at the smiley face drawn next to the message and pulls both the note and his snack out.

Shutting the fridge with a foot, he takes a bite and folds the note up, tucking it into his pocket. Sai is…something else. He’s not like his father, absent constantly with work and only vaguely in their lives. He can see his mother in him though, in his gentle smiles and his encouragements and patience. 

Although, his mother used to get on his case a lot more when he shirked homework and chores to play video games or hang out with friends. Sai just gives him that look, like he knows he can do better and he just…every time he caves to it and, ugh, puppy dog eyes should not be that lethal.

Taking another bite, he sits at the kitchen table. Living here is certainly different. He’s glad he didn’t stay back home. There are no reminders or memories in every room to constantly jab at his heart. There are photos, especially around their shrines, but that’s different, that’s to remember them by.

He still has nightmares, wakes up to vague dreams of screaming metal and shattering glass, his mother’s pained gasps of his name. He can recall the feel of the seatbelt digging into his chest, his arm hurting so badly and trying to reach out for her. He always wakes up crying, reaching out for her like he couldn’t.

And every time, Sai is there, eyes gentle and his hand softly threading through his hair. If he had to describe his uncle using only a few words, he’d have to say he’s gentle and kind. He’s always there, encouraging him, letting him do his own things with happy smiles at a success or sympathetic smiles at a failure.

He hadn’t expected this when he first met the man on the worst day of his life. Their relationship had a rocky start and afterwards, the few weeks where he was just numb to everything. Yet, Sai never once raised his voice or demanded he do anything. He never got angry or frustrated with him. He just smiled at him gently and let him grieve his own way and then helped him find a better way to release the pressure of so many emotions.

His eyes stray to the goban set near the screen to the back garden. Another aspect of his uncle: he’s passionate. Grandpa had been passionate about Go as well but this is different. Sai lives and breathes Go. Hikaru suspects that if the man couldn’t play, he might perish, either by his own hand or like a man starved of food that withers away to nothing.

Stuffing the last bite into his mouth, he sets the dish into the sink and slowly meanders over to the goban, casting a furtive glance around, even though he knows he’s alone before kneeling next to the board.

He has so much passion for a game that he made a career out of it. It’s intriguing just on that thought alone and honestly, he wants to understand what Sai sees in it, what keeps him coming back to the stones. A quick glance around again and then he pulls the lid off one of the stone containers, pulling a white stone out.

It’s not that big, the stone cool to the touch at first but quickly warming in his palm. He frowns, trying to imitate how Sai picks them up and is just able to, though it feels weird. Glancing at the board, he brings his hand down and the stone clicks against the wood sharply.

He jerks as the sound of the front door opening reaches him. “I’m home, sorry I’m late,” Sai calls out. Hikaru quickly grabs the stone and tosses it back into the container, rushing to jam the lid back on before scuttling away from the board.

“Welcome back,” he calls out, trying to feign nonchalance as Sai appears in the door laden down with bags.

“How was school?” he asks.

“It was alright. I did okay on my math test but I need to redo some problems,” he murmurs, keeping his eyes trained on Sai to avoid looking at the board.

“That’s good to hear,” Sai says, eyes scanning the room as he sets his bags down. Unknown to Hikaru, he spies the lid of his goke slightly off kilter from his hasty rush to not be seen messing with them, but all he does is smile. “I brought dinner home. It’s ramen from the stall down the street,” he says with a smile.

“You’re the best,” Hikaru cheers, making grabby hands for the bag containing the food.

Sai smacks his hands gently. “Go put your things up while I set up the table,” he orders, motioning to Hikaru’s bag that’s still on the table.

“Don’t you want me to do homework?” he asks, confused.

“I trust you to get it done before Monday,” Sai says with that knowing look and Hikaru nods before dashing down the hall to toss his bag in his room, quickly changing into something more comfortable.

Sai is just finishing setting the table when he rushes back in. “I figured we could watch that movie you checked out from the library,” he adds and Hikaru nods eagerly, sitting down to eat.

“Itadakimasu,” they murmur before digging into the ramen.

As they’re finishing, Sai speaks up. “Do you have any plans tomorrow?” he asks, setting his chopsticks aside.

“Hmm, not really,” Hikaru says after swallowing a bite. “I was mainly just going to hang around here, maybe hit up the arcade. Why?”

“Well, my day is clear tomorrow and I thought we could do something together,” he says with a shrug. “I figured we could do something you want to do.”

“Really?” he asks, surprised.

“Of course,” Sai says with a smile.

“I know what I want to do,” he crows, grinning wide.

~*~

Sai laughs loudly as he steers Hikaru through the boisterous crowd, yells and cheers going up around him. “I…I haven’t been to a baseball game in…years,” he admits in shock. He pulls his cap he bought at one of the stalls off and finger combs his hair out of his face before putting it back on.

“Really?” Hikaru asks with a grin, turning around to walk backwards, arms folded behind his head. “We used to go all the time. Whenever Akari and I had a day off and mom had some free time, she’d take us, even if it was just small time games. It was always fun. We tried to go at least four or five times a year, if not more.”

“Akari?” Sai asks, snagging his shirt sleeve to steer him out of the path of a large shouting group, wincing at their volume.

“My friend, you met her at the funeral,” he says, raising his voice to be heard.

Sai nods, recalling the young girl in question. “Well, if it was a tradition, maybe we can make it one for us as well. I can’t say we’ll have a lot of free days lining up, but we’ll try to go a few times a year,” he says.

“Really?” he asks, seeming shocked.

“Of course. We’re family, and I want to be in your life Hikaru,” Sai murmurs, pulling him in for a half hug, tucking the boy under his arm.

“Alright, let’s do it,” he crows with a grin fit to crack his face.

The station is packed from other fans boarding but eventually, they board their train home. As they’re passing down the street, Hikaru spies a book store and realizes quickly, “Hey, I need to buy some stuff for school. Mind if I make a detour?” he asks.

Sai glances at where he’s pointing and spies another place as well. “Hm, sure, here,” he pulls out some money for him. “Buy what you need. Take your time. I’ll be in there when you’re done,” he says pointing to a small store.

“Okay,” he calls, rushing towards the bookstore as Sai meanders towards his destination.

~*~

Hikaru thanks the cashier and walks from the store. He took a little longer than expected, over half an hour passing by. He’d gotten distracted in the manga section, looking at new titles and volumes of stuff he’d already read and lost track of time.

Glancing around shows no sign of Sai so he heads for the place he pointed out, ducking through the door and comes up short as the smell of cigarettes reaches him, the smoke curling along the ceiling.

“Oh, are you here to play?” a woman asks cheerfully from behind a desk, smiling at him.

“What, uh, no, I’m looking for my uncle,” he says, scanning for the man.

“Who is your uncle?” she asks.

“Fujiwara Sai,” he says distractedly. There’s a knot of people around one area but he can’t see if Sai is there.

“Oh, Fujiwara-san,” she calls out and from the knot of people, Sai’s head peeks out and he sees where the woman is pointing.

“Hikaru-kun,” he calls out with a wave and Hikaru sighs, making his way through what he realizes are tables with goban on them.

He coughs as he approaches, the smoke getting to him, “How can you stand it?” he complains as the crowd parts and lets him through.

“Oh, the smoke?’ Sai asks. “Sorry, I guess I’ve just grown used to it after years of coming to these kind of places,” he admits with a bashful shrug.

Hikaru looks to see his uncle is in the middle of discussing a finished game with…he blinks, a boy his age. “Ah, Hikaru, this is Touya Akira. He’s the son of another pro, like me,” Sai introduces with a smile. “Touya-san, my nephew Shindō Hikaru.”

“Hello,” Touya says with a small wave, green eyes bright under his bangs.

“Oh, uh, hi,” Hikaru says. “You play Go?” he asks awkwardly.

“I do. I learned from my father,” Touya answers.

“Touya-san is planning to become a Pro like myself, though he plans to finish middle school as well,” Sai says with a smile.

“You can become a pro, even at our age?” he asks, surprised.

“Actually, it’s a little more complicated than that, but unlike physical sports that tend to have an age limit to play professionally, Go is a mental sport and requires only a sharp mind. So long as someone under age has a parent’s consent, they can join the Pros. I myself became a Pro at…fifteen…no sixteen. I’d just turned sixteen when I took the exam,” Sai explains.

“Jeez, you’re my age and already planning a career. I just want to finish middle school,” Hikaru grumbles and the older men around them chuckle.

“We’ll I’ve spent all my life around Go and started learning at 2 and I’ve known for a long time that I wanted to be a pro,” Touya admits with a faint, self-conscious smile. “But not everyone wants this life. Do you play?” he asks.

“Ah, no, not really,” he admits with an awkward shrug.

“That’s okay,” he says with a grin.

“Well, thank you for the game, Touya-san. I look forward to the day we face each other over the board properly,” Sai says with ease.

“Likewise,” Touya agrees. “It was nice meeting you, Shindō-san.” Sai leads them out, Hikaru quiet, though the man doesn’t comment on it.

~*~

Hikaru stares at his uncle in the low light of the lamps. The man in question is seated in front of his board, though it doesn’t have any stones upon it. Sai is reading a kifu quietly, a gentle smile on his face.

It’s been two weeks since they went to the baseball game and an idea has slowly been forming in the back of his head. With a huff, he pushes up from the table and plops himself on the cushion opposite his uncle.

Sai blinks owlishly at him with a faint frown. “Teach me Go,” Hikaru demands.

Sai blinks slowly, “I…you don’t seem very enthusiastic,” he hedges, setting the kifu aside.

“Well, I am,” he mutters, sending him a look daring him to say no.

“Why the sudden change?” he asks instead, expression serious as he looks at Hikaru.

“I…you’re always doing all this stuff for me. The game the other day, ramen, helping me with everything,” Hikaru exclaims in a rush, “and well, you never ask to do anything you wanna do. So...I…well, I figured, if you taught me Go, we could play sometimes, since you like it so much.” Hikaru is mumbling towards the end of his word dump and flushing faintly, looking away from Sai as he scratches his head in discomfort.

The silence drags on and he peeks towards his uncle and blinks at the tears running down the man’s cheeks. “Did I say something wrong?” he asks, worried.

Sai sniff, rubbing his eyes, “No, I’m just…happy,” he says with that gentle smile of his. He crawls forward, around the board and pulls Hikaru close, hugging him. “Thank you,” he whispers and Hikaru just hugs him back. “Though I should warn you, Go isn’t a game you pick up just like that. It’s a hard one to understand and it can get complicated.”

“Just teach me already,” Hikaru grumbles, ignoring the warm flush on his cheeks and warmer feeling in his chest at finally being able to do something for his uncle.

Laughing, Sai sits back and hands him a goke. “Pull out a stone and place it anywhere you want,” he orders and Hikaru complies.

~*~

“Ugh, you are evil,” Hikaru grumbles, slumping back to sprawl on the floor.

Sai laughs softly from the other side of the board. “Well, I am a pro,” he tries to assure.

“Nope, no way, you’re just evil and mean and no one can see it but me. They see your smile and are so fooled, but you’re just pure evil,” he grumbles, smiling with his arm is over his eyes.

“Oh, is that so?” Sai drawls lazily. “I guess I’ll have to remember that the next time you want ramen for dinner,” he murmurs gently, laughing softly.

Hikaru jerks up, “No, no, no, I was just kidding, please oh wonderful uncle of mine, you are amazing and awesome,” he says hastily, eyes pleading, hands held up in prayer. Sai laughs even louder, covering his mouth in his mirth. Hikaru waits until his uncle looks at him and sticks his tongue out and the man doubles over laughing even more. Hikaru grins to himself, enjoying being able to make the man laugh.

Sai finally managed to get his laughter under control with a few remaining chuckles. Wiping his eyes, he straightens back up. “Another game?” he asks with a smile.

“Eh, fine, maybe I can reclaim some of my dignity back,” Hikaru grumbles, settling back on his cushion.

~*~

Hikaru pushes at his dinner distractedly, not really paying attention to anything around him. “Is anything wrong?” Sai asks from across from him.

“What?” he asks, dragging his attention back to his uncle. “Oh, uh, no…I’m just thinking,” he says with a shrug.

“What about?” he asks, setting his chopsticks aside to focus on him.

“Uh, well…I might have maybe joined a Go club at school,” he admits with a flush.

“What?” Sai asks, eyes wide in surprise.

“Well, not yet exactly. It’s in the middle school, so I can’t join until next school year, but the guy trying to start it was really excited,” he admits with a huff, recalling Tsutsui’s grateful enthusiasm.

“Oh, Hikaru,” Sai says excitedly, eyes shining, hands clasped in front of him. “We’ll have to play more to get your strength up,” he declares, grabbing Hikaru’s arm and towing him over to the board. “Come on, let’s play!”

“What!” he grouches, staring forlornly at his unfinished dinner with regret at mentioning this to his Go crazed uncle.

~*~

“You’re pretty strong,” Tsutsui murmurs as he plays Hikaru, the two ignoring Kaga’s grousing in the background.

“Ah, my uncle teaches me,” Hikaru admits with a frown, placing another stone. “He’s crazy about the game.”

“It’s too bad you can’t join now,” Tsutsui admits with a frown. “I would have liked to enter the tournament.”

“We still could,” Kaga says with wicked grin, eyes gleaming at an idea. “How hard do you think it would be to get him a middle school uniform?” he asks, the two looking up in confusion.

~*~

“What if I get caught?” Hikaru hisses as Kaga drags him towards Kaio Middle School. “Really, we’ll be disqualified if anyone finds out.”

“No one will know if you keep your mouth shut and just play. Let me do all the talking,” Kaga assures, Tsutsui looking on with a worried expression. “Come on, we need to sign in.”

“Jeez, this guy is so damn pushy,” Hikaru mutters, but his heart is beating just a little bit faster. He’s only been playing for a few months now with his uncle and he’s not played anyone else but Tsutsui and Kaga, who is stronger than him. Maybe he can use this as a test to see how strong he has become. He can’t really use Sai to measure himself by when the man is so damn strong that he runs laps around Hikaru.

“Fine,” he mutters, yanking his arm out of Kaga’s grip and walking on his own.

He stands back as Tsutsui and Kaga go to sign in at the table, eyes scanning the crowd of boys and girls in various uniforms. Motion out of the corner of his eye has him turning to look but whatever it was is out of sight and he shrugs. He’d thought he’d recognized someone, but oh well.

~*~

Touya sighs in boredom quietly as the principle shows him around the school. He’s honestly not very interested in what the man has to say, but he pastes on a polite smile and nods or says a few words whenever the man turns his way.

He’s wondering if he should just take the Pro exam now and get it over with instead of waiting like he said he would. It’s hard to be as strong as he is and still make friends his age that also play. Most people just get intimidated or don’t want to play him and it hurts.

“Oh, and here we have our annual Go Tournament going on today. Students from the surrounding middle schools all come to compete. Would you like to observe? Our school’s Go club is one of the best in the area,” the principle informs him as they near a doorway.

“Ah, yes, please,” he says, intrigued.

He follows the man inside to see people grouped around one main table of six players. “Oh, looks like we’re at the finishing match,” the principle observes with a chuckle, leading Touya closer.

Touya hangs back, observing the First Captains’ game, one guy glaring with intensity at his opponent. Strangely, he’s holding a fan with the Shogi symbol for ‘king’ on it. He looks over the game with a critical eye. The game is good, both opponents strong, but not as strong as he is.

The second game as well is going strong; he can see the mistake that turned the game around. To make such an obvious mistake speaks much for the player’s arrogance, if he played this poorly. The first two have just resigned as he makes his way towards the third game when a cheer goes up, the third player resigning and he goes to the game, looking over the board and blinks.

Another strong game but…there are points here and there that speak of training with someone very strong. The hands are crudely placed but still effective, going by the dour look the boy’s opponent is sending him.

Touya looks at the winner, frowning as he recalls having met the boy but he can’t recall…

“Oh,” he says his fist thumping into his palm, the name coming to him, “Shindō-san,” he says aloud, remembering meeting him that one time at his father’s Go salon. He is Fujiwara-san’s nephew. Shindō looks up and then panic enters his eyes. “I thought you were in the same grade as me?” he asks with a frown.

~*~

“We’re deeply sorry,” Tsutsui says with a low bow as the principle finishes his rant at them. Hikaru is standing off to the side with Kaga, glaring at nothing.

Touya steps closer, “Um, Shindō-san, I’m sorry I got your team disqualified,” he murmurs, looking apologetic.

“It’s fine, Touya-san. I figured this might happen, but Kaga wouldn’t take no for an answer,” he shoots a glare at the older boy.

“Hey, we won and against Kaio, even if we got disqualified,” Kaga says with a lazy shrug.

“They were good games,” Touya says with a nod as Kaga sends a glare at the boy.

“Lay off him Kaga, he didn’t mean to,” Hikaru huffs in annoyance, jabbing an elbow into the boy’s side.

“Well that’s sorted out,” Tsutsui says with a long suffering sigh. “He did wish us luck in next year’s tournament, if you still want to join us, Shindō-kun?” he asks looking at Hikaru.

“Yeah, yeah, I’ll think about it,” he grumbles, but a small smile has creeped up on his lips.

Touya bows farewell to the principle and follows the three boys out, jacket over his arm. “The first time I met you, you said you didn’t play,” Touya observes the other boy whose arms are folded behind his head.

“Huh, oh, yeah, at the time, I didn’t. I decided to let my uncle teach me so we could play together and, well…he’s been running me through the ringer over the last two months. I doubt I’ll ever be as good as him,” he grumbles with a dour expression, recalling his most recent game with the man the night before.

“You’ve only been playing for two months?” Touya asks in surprise. He’s this good after only playing that long? He recalls his game against Fujiwara-san and gulps. How far will he advance in another two months, in a year with a master like Fujiwara-san training him? Will he be as strong as Touya is now?

“Am I that bad?” he asks with a groan.

“Ah, no, you played really well. I just figured you’d been playing longer,” he admits with a smile.

“Are you going to Kaio next year, Touya-san?” Tsutsui asks from up ahead.

“Ah, yes, I am,” Touya answers.

“Hey, maybe we can play each other next year in the tournament?” Hikaru offers with a grin.

“I’d like that,” Touya says with a smile, feeling something jolt in his chest at the thought.

~*~

Sai is seated on the couch, reading a book when a lump drops next to him, drawing his attention from the pages. “Hikaru,” he says with a smile, looking at the boy.

“I was going through some of the boxes,” he starts off with, fidgeting with a binder in his hands. Sai knows immediately what boxes he’s talking about. “I found this,” he murmurs, silently handing the binder over to him.

Frowning, Sai sets his book aside and grabs it, opening the cover and freezing at the picture of himself and Mitsuko grinning at a camera. “What?” he asks softly.

“Keep going,” Hikaru says, gesturing for him to turn the page. A newspaper clipping of… he frowns, reading the words and with a start, he sees his name: an announcement for his win at one of the local amateur Go tournaments in their area. He flips to the next one and sees another newspaper clipping with his name. The next is him in his room, frowning down at a board, a kifu in hand. He was…fourteen in the picture, remembers hearing the click and looking up to see Mitsuko standing in the doorway grinning with the camera.

He turns another page and he sees a page from Go Weekly with the announcements of new Pros and there, with a picture next to it, is his name. “She…” he can’t seem to finish his sentence.

“She was following your career,” he says, looking sad. “There’s even ticket stubs and program guides to some of the events and tournaments you were in,” Hikaru murmurs, flipping to further into the binder. “She went to see you play.”

He jumps as a tear drops onto the page and he hastily wipes it off, trying to stem the flood. “She…she never came up to me. I never…never…” he can’t keep talking, throat growing tight and he covers his face.

A warm body presses close and wraps around him and he pulls Hikaru closer still, burying his head into the boy’s shoulder, grieving for so much lost time. A few minutes later, he manages to pull away with a bitter sweet smile, wiping the tears back.

He pulls the binder close, flipping to another page, “Oh, jeez, I forgot how short my hair used to be,” he murmurs huskily, a photo of him teaching on a stage, hair pulled back into a small tail.

Hikaru glances at the waterfall of his uncle’s hair, now well past his waist. “Why do you keep it so long?” he asks, curious.

“Hmm,” he glances at Hikaru, “Oh, well at first it was for a change and because long hair is cool. Then, I got used to it and liked how it looked and it just became a thing. Now, I can’t bear to change it.” He grins at Hikaru. “Maybe you should grow your hair out to be as cool as your uncle,” he advices with a grin.

“Please, I’m cool already,” Hikaru huffs, fingering his bleached bangs.

He turns the page, “Oh, my first attempt for the Ouza title. That was a rough game. I lost, but I learned so much from it,” he murmurs, fingers ghosting over the announcement.

“Did you always want to play Go?” Hikaru asks, leaning into his uncle as he keeps flipping through pages.

“Hmm, for the most part, though there was a short time as a child that I wanted to be a ninja, but that didn’t last very long. I remember when I first learned. Our neighbor played and he was watching us for a night while our parents were away and he showed me how to play. After that, I couldn’t get enough of it. Mitsuko wasn’t really interested.”

“You said she wanted to cook,” Hikaru murmurs, remembering the cook book. “Her food was always good.”

“It was,” Sai says softly. “We did make a promise, when we were kids. If one of us couldn’t make it in our profession, we’d join the other. She wanted to open up a restaurant and serve all kinds of dishes. I always hated that she never did,” he admits, hands clenching.

“But she did learn Go,” Hikaru says with a look at his uncle. “I remember her and grandpa playing a few times. She kept the promise,” he says with a smile.

“Maybe we can keep hers then, sort of,” Sai says, looking towards the kitchen. “Want to help me cook dinner tonight?” he asks.

“Sure,” he agrees, jumping up to pull Sai from the couch. Sai sets the binder on the couch, the cover opening to the grinning children in the front.

~*~

“Oh, look at you, growing up so fast,” Sai says with a grin as Hikaru comes into the kitchen with his new Haze Middle School uniform on. “Ooh, I should take a picture to memorialize this,” he says turning to rummage for the camera in the junk drawer.

“I’m going,” Hikaru grouses, aiming towards the door and Sai laughs, grabbing him by the arm and pushes him into the seat at the table.

“Eat your breakfast,” he orders. Complying, Hikaru digs in with gusto. “Now, I’ve made multiple dishes for you, so all you have to do is reheat them and don’t be afraid to call if you need me. My cell will always be on me,” Sai instructs.

“You’re only going to be gone for three days,” Hikaru grumbles around a mouthful of food.

“Don’t talk with your mouth full,” he chides gently, expression distant as he runs through a mental check list, counting on his fingers. “The hotel’s number is on the fridge and so are some of the others going so if you can’t get a hold of me, call them. I’ve informed them ahead of time so they won’t be surprised. There’s money for food, if you want to order takeout, in the purple lacquered box,” he says pointing to said ornamental box on the nearby shelf.

“I’ll be fine,” Hikaru huffs, “You’ve gone on long trips before.”

“Yes, but never so far away. I won’t be able to get to you in a few hours like I have been before. If something happens, I want to know you’ll have people to contact,” he says with a worried look.

Hikaru pushes away from the table to pull Sai into a hug. “It’ll be fine. You better not lose because you were distracted worrying about me or else I’ll never let you live it down,” he adds with a grin.

“You’re right,” he says, taking a deep breath to calm down. “I won’t and we’ll have to celebrate my win when I get home,” he says with a sharp grin, eyes getting serious in the moment.

“Yeah we will,” Hikaru crows.

“My plane lands late, so don’t wait up for me,” he adds with a smile, tousling Hikaru’s hair.

“Hey, don’t tell me what to do,” he grumbles as he fixes the messed up hair and swats at Sai’s hands. “Shoo, don’t you have a plane to catch?” he grumbles.

Laughing, Sai steps back. “Alright, promise you’ll call me if anything happens,” he orders, looking serious.

“I promise,” Hikaru says with a roll of his eyes but he grips his uncle’s hand and squeezes to reassure him.

“Alright, I’m going. I’ll text you once I reach the hotel,” Sai says, stooping to pick up his suitcase after pulling on his coat.

“Safe travels and kick his butt,” Hikaru calls out as his uncle waves and steps out of the house.

~*~

“I have nothing,” Kaga grumbles with a glare up at Hikaru. “When the hell did you get this strong?” he demands, fan snapping closed in his fist.

“Blame my uncle, he’s a monster and a perfectionist all rolled into one and he’s drilling everything he can into my brain about the game,” he mutters as they start to clear the board off.

“Oh yeah, isn’t he playing for the Honinbou title right now?” Tsutsui asks. “I read about it in Go Weekly.”

“Yeah, he’s going up against some old guy whose held it for a while now,” Hikaru says distractedly. “It’s a two day game.”

“Jeez, what must that be like to play a game that long,” Tsutsui murmurs, frowning.

There’s a tap at the door and then it opens, “Hello, I’m looking for Shindō Hikaru,” someone asks and the boy looks up to see a familiar face.

“Akari!” he says, jumping up in surprise.

“Hikaru,” she says with a grin, rushing up to hug the boy. “It’s been so long.”

“What are you doing here,” he pulls back to see she’s wearing a Haze uniform. “You go here too?”

“Yeah, mom and I just moved to Tokyo a few months ago,” she says with a quick nod, still smiling.

“Wait, you and your mom?” he asks, frowning.

“Yeah, uh, mom and dad got a divorce,” she says quietly and the two other boys step away to give them some privacy.

“What happened?” he asks, pulling her to one of the science stations.

“The usual, he was always just so busy at work, never coming home. She didn’t say outright, but I think he might have been cheating on her,” she whispers, face pinched.

“I’m sorry,” Hikaru whispers, not sure how to comfort her.

“I’m fine. We moved here and when I heard from another girl that you were in her class, I came to find you. Why are you in the Go club?” she asks, looking over at Tsutsui and Kaga who have started their own game.

“My uncle, the one who took me in, is a Go Pro and I’ve picked up the game from him. I figured this is a good way to pass the time and it’d look good on my record as well,” he says with a grin. Mostly true, but recently, he’s noticed himself wanting to play other, stronger people, not just his uncle, wanting to test himself against their strength. Maybe he can see a little of why Sai always comes back to the game, even if he loses.

“Is it fun?” she asks, head cocked a little to the side in consideration.

“Yeah, I guess, but not everyone thinks that,” he admits.

“Maybe I should join then,” she says with a grin.

He’s about to say no, she can’t join, but pauses, hearing Sai’s voice in his head berating him that anyone should be allowed to learn to play, whether they’re male or female. “That’s up to Tsutsui,” he says instead with a pout at his uncle invading his thoughts even when he’s away.

“Let’s go ask,” she says eagerly. “We’ll have to exchange numbers so we can keep in contact.”

Grumbling but nodding, he follows the girl towards the game.

~*~

“A beautiful game, Kuwabara-san, it was an honor to play such a formidable opponent,” Sai says with a bow as cheers break out.

Kuwabara lets out a croaky laugh, slapping his knee, “Indeed, though you’ve got a few years before you can truly match me, Fujiwara-san. I’ll have to keep my eye on you. You’ve got sharp eyes,” he says with another laugh.

“I will look forward to our next battle,” Sai says with a sharp smile. They can’t continue as the others crowd around and begin to discuss the game.

With a sigh, Sai closes the front door softly; weary after such a long flight. He frowns as he spies the living room light on and, toeing off his shoes; he sets his suitcase down and walks towards the light. He finds Hikaru asleep on the couch, blanket half on him and half bunched up behind the boy.

Smiling softly, he kneels down beside him. “Hikaru,” he murmurs, shaking his shoulder gently. “You should really be in bed.”

“Hmm,” he says behind a yawn. “Oh, you’re back. Welcome home,” he says rubbing at his eyes.

“Why are you out here?” he asks as the boy sits up.

“I was waiting for you to get home,” he admits, looking cute in his sleep rumpled state.

“Well, I’m home, so come on, off to bed with you,” Sai says fondly, helping to steer the teetering boy down the hall to his room. He helps him into bed, pulling the covers up over him and then sits on the edge, looking fondly over the boy who is asleep once more. “Thank you for waiting up,” he murmurs with a gentle smile.

He never expected this. To feel so much love for a boy he once never knew. It’s been over a year since he learned of the accident and his frantic dash to the hospital. The pain is still there, Mitsuko’s death a wound that he doubts he’ll ever get over. But having Hikaru here helps. Running a gentle hand over his hair, he stands up and tiptoes out, turning the light off and shutting the door.

He’s been on his own for so long now, after he was kicked out. When he took the Pro exam, it was with the understanding that he wouldn’t have a second shot, not if he was going to make it in the world. He’d only had so much money to his name saved up from previous amateur tournaments and what little allowance he got. But he’d made it, only losing once in his exam and suddenly, his dream was possible.

After that, his life got hectic with games and events, tutoring, exhibitions, you name it, he went to as many as he could, wanting to experience it all and now that he can look back, he can see that he was running from the hurt of his parents throwing him out. He never looked back because he never thought anyone was looking at him.

The binder is on the table next to the couch and he pulls it out as he settles where Hikaru was lying. He opens it randomly, just looking at it. Mitsuko was always watching it seems and he’ll regret never speaking to her. There were so many chances to talk to her, especially after their mother’s funeral. He was such a coward though.

His hand clenches on top of the page, “I’m sorry Mitsuko, for so much,” he murmurs to the silent room. “But I’ll make sure he grows up right. I promise.” There’s no answer and with a sigh, he puts the binder back and goes to grab his suitcase to unpack before bed.

~*~

“So why am I being forced to join your stupid club?” Mitani grouses as Hikaru drags him towards the science room.

“Because you were cheating, got caught and I saved your butt by getting your money back,” Hikaru says with an annoyed huff. “You owe me, so join the club so we can enter the tournament.”

“I can still say no, you can’t make me do anything,” he grumbles but doesn’t try and make Hikaru let go.

“Sure I can’t,” he says with a grin as he opens the door and drags him in. “I got Mitani to join; now we can enter the tournament.”

“Really?” Akari says from besides the new girl that joined recently. “Oh, if only we had a third girl, then we could enter as well.”

“Should we really allow someone in who has cheated in the past?” Tsutsui asks with a hard frown at the other boy.

“He won’t, I promise,” he turns to Mitani, “You won’t right?”

“Maybe I will,” he says with an easy grin.

“I will make your life miserable if you do,” Hikaru warns, his expression serious. “You won’t ever be able to bet on a game again because I’ll announce to everyone that you cheat. I swear I will.”

“Geez, you’re no fun to tease,” Mitani grouses. “Fine, I won’t cheat. Happy princess?” he asks.

“Yes,” Hikaru says with a grin. “Come on, let’s play.”

~*~

Touya doesn’t understand why he’s so anxious all of a sudden. He’s first captain of Kaio’s team, though he doubts he will stay in the club much longer, not after the reception he received from it. But he promised to play for the tournament, something about promoting it by entering. Normally, he avoids amateur contests since he’s so strong.

But he saw the team announcements for the other schools and he saw Shindō’s placement as first captain as well and a little excitement has grown in his chest. He wonders if he’s any stronger. It’s been nearly a year since he last saw Shindō play at the tournament and he’s not played him himself, but it would be fun to find out how much he’s grown and maybe he’s strong enough to contend with him.

He follows the other two members of his team into the match area, ignoring them for the most part and looks around for Shindō but he doesn’t see him, so he’s probably not here yet. “Touya-san,” his team calls and he turns to follow them, finding their table. “Do you want to have a warm up match?”

“Ah, no thank you, you two can go instead,” he says, distracted watching the door. He doesn’t notice the glares aimed at his back before the two boys settle to play a quick game.

Finally, ten minutes before the games are about to start, a familiar head of hair comes into view and then he blinks as a second familiar head of hair comes into view behind him. He just picks up on the tail end of a conversation. “-didn’t have to come,” Hikaru grumbles to the smiling man behind him.

“Of course I did, Hikaru, I must support my nephew in his Go tournament,” Fujiwara says with a happy smile, hands clasped in front of his chest in excitement.

“Fujiwara-san, Shindō-san,” Touya calls, walking up to them.

“Touya-san, so you’re in the tournament as well?” Fujiwara says with a surprised expression.

“I was asked to, for promoting the tournament and such,” he says with a shrug. “I hope we get to play,” he says to Hikaru.

“Better not lose then,” Hikaru says with a grin.

“I won’t lose,” Touya says with an annoyed huff and Hikaru laughs.

“The same goes for you Hikaru. I won’t let you live it down if you lose at an amateur tournament,” Fujiwara says softly with a sharp look at his nephew who gulps and nods.

Touya swears he hears him mutter, “He’s going to kill me one day.” But before he can comment, the heads of the tournament call everyone to order and they all rush to take their spots. Touya watches Fujiwara walk off to the side closest to Hikaru and lean against the wall before he’s forced to pay attention to his opponent as the start is announced.

~*~

Hikaru glares down at the board and can feel Sai’s eyes boring into his back. When he’d told his uncle about the tournament, and explained the previous one, he hadn’t expected Sai’s competitive streak to rear its head. The next few weeks had been nothing but playing against him and shidougo every free moment they had between his schooling and Sai’s own hectic schedule.

He peeks up at Touya, the boy’s expression stoic as he eyes the board, reading ahead in the game. He’s…strong, like he guessed. Maybe not Sai levels, but certainly stronger than his own level of play. He can feel it with each stone played, Touya’s blade is pushing him to the edge of some unseen cliff’s edge.

It’s…if he’s honest, it’s exhilarating. With Sai, he knows he can’t win, the man so far ahead he can’t even see him on the horizon. But here’s Touya who is his age and stronger but treating him like an equal. He’d like to play him again after this, many times, if the boy would like to.

He sets his next stone down and digs in for the fight of his life.

~*~

“We lost,” Tsutsui bemoans. “0-3, none of us won against Kaio,” he adds to rub salt into the wound.

“But it was still a blast,” Hikaru says with a grin, walking next to the other two boys. The tournament hadn’t lasted much longer after their sound defeat. Kaio had won against their last opponent and had won the tournament, again.

Sai wraps an arm around Hikaru’s shoulders. “I’m proud of you,” he murmurs just for him to hear. Hikaru flushes at the praise. “You fought hard against Touya-san and I know you gave it your all.”

“I’d like to play him again,” he admits softly, feeling that heat in his chest again.

“I’m sure he’d like to as well,” Sai says with a secretive smile. He turns to the other two boys, “How about we go celebrate your sound defeat. My treat,” he offers to cheers from the other two boys and Akari who is just now running up to them.

“Next year, us girls are going to enter,” she declares with a fierce look.

“You’ll take them by storm, I’m sure of it,” Sai says with a smile.

“Ah, Fujiwara-san, Shindō-san,” someone calls out and they turn to see Touya running up to them.

“Touya-san, you played an excellent game,” Sai congratulates the boy.

“Ah, thank you, that means a lot coming from you Fujiwara-san,” he says with a faint flush and a slight bow. “Um, I really enjoyed our game, Shindō-san. I hope we can play again?” he asks earnestly.

“Yeah, sure,” Hikaru says with a grin.

“Touya-san, would you care to join us? We were going to celebrate their defeat,” he says with a smile.

“Ah, I don’t want to intrude,” he hedges.

“Come on, we can celebrate your victory as well,” Hikaru says with another grin.

He looks hesitant for a moment and then nods, “Okay, I just need to let my mother know that I’ll be getting home late.” He walks a short distance away, pulling out his cellphone to call home.

~*~

“Ah, welcome back, Shindō-kun,” Amano calls, spying the boy in the hall. “Here for Fujiwara-san?” he asks.

“Yes, is his game done yet?” he asks with a smile.

“Hmm, last I saw, it was still going strong,” he admits. Hikaru sighs softly looking bored, not meaning for the man to see. “If you need to pass the time, I’m sure you can find an opponent around here somewhere. Fujiwara-san tells me you play as well,” Amano says, leading the boy towards the guest play area. “Are you strong?” he asks, spying a few Insei lounging around the area.

“Uh, I guess. I mean, I play my uncle but, he usually mops the floor with me,” he jokes.

Amano nods in understanding, “Ah, Waya-kun, are you looking for someone to play?” he asks, seeing the boy sitting in the room.

“Hm, sure, I could go for a game. Isumi-san is still in his game and I’m waiting for him to finish,” he says with a grin.

“Shindō-kun, this is Waya Yoshitaka. He’s an Insei here at the Institute,” Amano introduces. “Waya-kun, Shindō Hikaru.”

“Hey,” Waya greets with a grin, Hikaru grinning back and sitting opposite him at a free board.

Amano hears someone call his name and excuses himself as the boys start playing, chatting as they do.

~*~

“Can I ask something?” Hikaru says over dinner a few nights later.

“Of course,” Sai says, setting his chopsticks down to give him his full attention.

“What made you decide to be a Go pro?” he asks, swirling his noodles around on his plate.

Sai arches a brow, surprised by this line of questioning. Humming softly in thought, he folds his hands under his chin and finally answers, “Because, when I thought about doing anything else in life, it just felt wrong. It was the first thing I thought of when I woke up and the last when I went to sleep. My fingers were always itching to handle the stones, to play stronger and stronger opponents. There’s a saying in Go, about achieving the ‘Hand of God’. To me, it means playing each game to its fullest and never squandering your time. I knew, if I could become a pro, that I would finally find my place in the world.”

“Oh,” Hikaru says, his voice coming out like its more shocked exhale than a necessity to breath.

“But then, those are my reasons and each player is different,” Sai assures, thinking he may have piled too much on the boy in one go.

“You love it that much?” he says, eyes looking up at him in wonder.

Sai nods, “I do. In a sense, it saved me. Like a game, each step I took towards my goal was like placing a stone. There are stumbles and missteps but I never want to stop,” Sai says with a fond grin. “And now you’re part of my game.”

“I played another boy a little older than me at the Institute the other day, when I came during your game,” he says softly.

“Oh, was he strong?” Sai asks, sharp eyes taking in Hikaru’s fidgeting.

“Yeah, apparently he’s an Insei there. He beat me, but not by much,” he says with a grin, looking up at Sai.

Sai smiles, understanding where this might be going, “It was invigorating, wasn’t it?” he asks.

“Yeah,” Hikaru admits. “He even said I was strong enough to take the Insei test and join up with the other people there,” he admits, looking down at his hands.

“Do you want to?” Sai asks softly.

Hikaru looks up at him, “I…I don’t know, maybe.” He seems unsure. “It…it’s such a big decision to make. I’ve only just started middle school,” he confesses.

Sai takes a breath and lets it out. “This decision will be hard, no matter what age you are,” Sai admits softly. “To choose a path and set yourself on it is scary. Will you fail? Will things work out the way you imagined? Will you even still like this when you finally reach your goal? They’re all valid questions to ask.”

He pauses and takes a breath, Hikaru hanging onto his words, “But, I’ll be with you every step of the way. No matter what path you decide, just remember that you’re not alone. I was alone when I made my decision and it felt nearly impossible. I can tell you from experience, it will be hard and sometime you’ll think about quitting when things blow up in your face or you stumble. The one thing you need to ask yourself though: Can you see yourself doing anything other than what you want without feeling regret?”

He reaches out and lays his hand on top of Hikaru’s, stilling his fidgeting, “Because regret is the worst feeling in the world, Hikaru.”

Hikaru looks down, frowning heavily as he thinks. Finally as the silence drags on, he looks up, eyes blazing with his decision, “I want to try,” he says.

“That’s the first step to anything,” Sai says with a grin.

~*~

Sai paces the observation room, chewing on a fingernail as Hikaru takes his Insei test. He can’t sit still long enough to relax, anxious and wanting to be in the room to see how he’s doing. He doesn’t notice the figures passing by the open door until one of them doubles back and looks in at him, frowning.

“Fujiwara-san, everything alright?” Ogata asks, watching the man pace.

Amano, stepping up behind him, chuckles softly at the anxious man, “His nephew is currently taking his test to become an Insei,” he explains. “I’m surprised you’re not in there. Guardians are allowed if they wish.”

“He kicked me out,” Sai complains. “He said he didn’t want me interfering. Like I would,” he huffs, stopping his pacing for the moment to rant.

“He’ll be fine, Fujiwara-san. If he’s been training under you, he’ll pass with flying colors,” Amano assures, Ogata raising a brow in amusement as the man nods and then turns back around to keep pacing.

The sound of approaching footsteps draws their eyes and a voice calls out, “I passed!” The boy in question skids to a halt in front of the door and then flushes when he realizes he has an audience.

“You did?” Sai asks, stalking forward to see the paper in Hikaru’s hand. “Oh, we’ll have to celebrate.” He’s beaming now, anxiousness long forgotten.

Amano laughs softly, “Two peas in a pod,” he murmurs, only Ogata catching it and he can only nod in agreement, seeing the enthusiasm of the two Go players.

~*~

“Oi, Shindō-kun, you passed,” a voice calls out and Hikaru turns to see the Insei he played, Waya.

“Yep, I’m officially an Insei,” he says with a grin.

“Waya-kun?” another boy next to him asks.

“Oh, this is Shindō Hikaru. I played him about a month back and he made me work for my win,” he says with a grin. “His uncle is Fujiwara 9-dan.”

“Ah, nice to meet you, Shindō-san, I’m Isumi Shinichiro,” Isumi says with a bow.

“Hey, nice to meet you,” he says with a grin. “So, where am I sitting?’ he asks.

“Hmm, who are you scheduled with?” Waya asks.

Hikaru pulls out his schedule with a frown, “Um…Uchida,” he says.

“Over here,” a girl calls out.

“Good luck,” Waya says, Isumi agreeing as they hurry to their spots as the sensei steps up to his spot near the front.

~*~

“So you’re really going all out to be a Go pro?” Akari asks as she and Hikaru meander down the street to his home.

“Hmm, yeah, it’s hard though. I’ve lost more games than I’ve won so far. But…I’ve already learned a lot and it’s fun,” he admits.

“That’s good,” she says as they step into the house.

“I’m home,” Hikaru calls out. “Akari is here as well.”

“Welcome back,” Sai calls, coming to greet them. His hair, which he normally keeps down or tied loosely, is done up in a high tail, a bandana covering it as he holds a dust rag. “Hello, Akari-chan, how is the Go club doing?” he asks with a smile.

“Great, we finally have enough girls to enter the tournament. And we have two new boys who joined who are playing. Though Mitani is still angry with Hikaru quitting and still hasn’t come back yet.”

“Give it time,” he consuls and notices Hikaru’s look of guilt. “We can only be responsible for our own actions. Don’t feel guilty for choosing your path Hikaru just because he doesn’t like it.”

“I know, I just wish he would at least go back to the club,” he says with a sigh.

“It’s his choice too. And someone like him, he won’t be able to resist playing again, even if it’s not with the club,” Sai says, pulling off his bandana and setting it and his rag aside. “I’ll make some tea. Are you two hungry?” he asks.

“No, we stopped to eat, but some tea sounds lovely,” Akari says, following the man into the kitchen.

~*~

“Oh, Hikaru, look,” Sai says, holding a page from Go Weekly out to him.

Frowning, Hikaru takes it and reads it. “What? He’s a Pro already?” he asks, shocked to see Touya’s picture on the page of new Go Pros.

“Hmm, yes, looks like he was undefeated too,” Sai says with a note of pride, pointing to his win/lose ratio from behind the boy.

“Jeez, I’ll never catch up to him,” Hikaru mutters.

“Take your time,” Sai says. “He’s been playing much longer than you; it’s only natural to feel like he’s so far ahead. You’ll catch up, I’ll make sure of it,” he says with a grin at his nephew who winces, knowing Sai’s perfectionist attitude towards Go.

“He should be having his game for the Beginner Dan Series soon. I wonder who he’ll face,” he says, looking over the other two people that passed the exam.

“Beginner Dan Series?” Hikaru asks.

“Ah, when someone is made a pro, a game is held between them and a veteran player, as a sort of welcoming for becoming a pro. It’s a serious game, but the beginner is given some advantage to make it more of a fair game between the two. Who knows, when you become pro, maybe you’ll play me?” he says with a shark’s grin.

“No, I play you every day already. I don’t need you wiping the floor with me in front of everyone too,” Hikaru groans, falling back to land against Sai.

“You don’t want to play me?” Sai asks, looking down at Hikaru’s prone form in his lap.

“Well of course I do, but I wanna play other people too,” he grumbles. “I’ve got a long way to go before I beat you,” he mutters.

Sai chuckles, “You’ll get there one day and I look forward to it greatly.”

~*~

“So Waya invited me to a study group,” Hikaru says as he plays against Sai.

“Hmm, that’s good. Learning from other veteran players will only help you improve,” he says, playing a stone to cut off Hikaru’s black ruthlessly.

“Maybe they’ll be less cut throat than you,” he mutters, playing his next stone.

“What was that?” Sai asks with a sharp smile.

“Nothing!” he assures. They play a few more hands before he speaks up again. “Um, and he told me about the Young Lions Tournament coming up soon.”

“It’s been some years since I played in that. What are the Insei requirements?” he asks, playing his next hand.

“I need to be in the top 16 of class 1,” he says, frowning before placing his next move. “I’m 18th in class 2,” he adds before Sai can ask.

“You’ve got some work ahead of you if you want to enter,” Sai says mildly, glancing up at Hikaru.

“I know, but I want to enter it,” he assures, playing his next hand.

Sai smiles, “I’m sure you’ll make it, but it looks like you’re dead in the water here,” he says with a grin and Hikaru groans, tumbling back onto the ground.

~*~

“Ready?” Sai asks as they near the event center where the tournament is being held.

“Yes, let’s win,” Hikaru says with a clenched fist and he follows Sai into the building.

“Shindō!” Someone calls and he looks to see Waya waving.

“Go on, I’m going to go chat with some of the other pros,” he says, pushing Hikaru towards the gathering Insei. Nodding, he rushes over to the others, grinning.

Not long later, the announcement goes out for the tournament to begin and people scatter to find their opponents and tables. Sai eyes the crowd, seeing a few Insei he recognizes from being introduced. The newest young Pros all stand out as unknowns, except for Touya who is still as calm as ever.

He wanders through the tables, eyeing games with the air of a general inspecting his troops. He can see some strong players amongst the Insei, possible future pros, if they can pass. A couple of them stand out especially.

He finally ends up near Hikaru’s game, watching his nephew battle it out across the board. A second body joins him and he turns a curious eye to find Ogata standing next to him. “The chick is leaving the nest,” he murmurs with a chuckle.

“He is,” Sai murmurs quietly. “Touya-san has gotten stronger too,” he adds.

“He has,” Ogata agrees. “Do you think he’ll advance to the next round?” he asks, nodding to Hikaru who is oblivious to anything going on around him, focused on the game.

“Maybe, we’ll just have to see,” Sai says with a sharp smile. He spies a board opening up, “Do you want to play?” he asks, nodding to the vacated board.

“I could go for a game,” Ogata answers, following the man to the board. They nigari, Sai taking white. “He’s a lot like you,” Ogata says a few hands in.

“He’s more like my sister was,” he murmurs, recalling Mitsuko’s love of everything as a child.

“Was?” he asks.

“She passed away recently and I became his guardian,” Sai says evenly, not elaborating but can see understanding cross Ogata’s face, recalling their match for the 10-dan challenger game.

“I’m sorry for your loss,” he murmurs.

“Thank you. I never expected him to take after me though,” he admits, laying a stone.

“Children are always surprising from what I’ve come to understand. I don’t want any,” he says with a huff, playing a counter to Sai’s attack.

“You don’t?” Sai asks, curious.

“Hmm, I spent so much time studying under Touya-sensei that I ended up helping raise Akira as well. Once is enough,” Ogata says with a frown, pushing into white’s territory.

Sai laughs softly, “His favorite uncle, I’m sure.” They play in silence after that until with one last hand, Sai emerges victorious. “Thank you for the game,” Sai says with a smile.

“Likewise,” Ogata says, the two quickly putting the stones away before heading towards Hikaru’s game that is nearing its end. One look at the board and Sai sighs softly, seeing the outcome. There are some interesting plays though. He’ll have to get Hikaru to recreate the game for him and they’ll study it.

On cue, Hikaru bows, “I have nothing.” He’s grinning though as they begin to discuss the game. Sai’s eyes flick up to see Touya watching the discussion with interest and wonders when he got there. Finally, they clear the board and Sai steps forward, Ogata having left.

“Oh, Touya-san, did you win?” Sai asks, looking at the young pro.

“Ah, yes, I did,” he answers. “Too bad you lost, Shino-kun,” he says to Hikaru.

“But it was fun. If only I’d won, I could play more games like that,” he says, enthusiasm catching.

Sai smiles, “You will, I’m sure. Let’s watch the rest of the tournament.”

~*~

“The time is approaching,” Sai murmurs across from Hikaru. It’s one of their rare free days that overlap but instead of going out like normal, they’re play game after game.

“I know,” Hikaru murmurs, hands fisting in his lap before he plays a hand.

Sai pauses, looking up at Hikaru, eyes shining, “No matter what outcome, I’m proud of you. You set yourself on this path and you made it your own.”

Hikaru flushes, “Thanks,” he mumbles bashfully. His expression firms, “But I’m going to pass. I have to.”

“Well then, we’ll make sure you’re ready,” Sai says with a sharp grin, snapping a stone down onto the board.

~*~

Hikaru sighs in relief as he steps out of the Institute, heart rate calming after drawing the free win and passing his preliminaries for the Pro exam. He’d gotten off to a rocky start but now, he’s feeling good about this.

His first instinct is to call Sai and tell him the good news, but then he remembers that he’s in the middle of a job and won’t be back until tomorrow morning at the earliest. He’ll have to wait until later this afternoon to call him.

That leaves the rest of his day wide open now that he doesn’t have to play. _‘Maybe Waya or Isumi are free to hang out’_ , he wonders, pulling out his phone to text the two other Insei.

~*~

Hikaru ignores Sai’s greeting as he storms through the house and into his room, shutting the door hard behind him. He’s…he’s just so angry. Why would Isumi do that? He feels like the wind’s been let out of his lungs and they won’t fill back up.

He chucks his bag onto the floor, pacing, kicking at a few clothes littering the floor in frustration. He doesn’t answer when Sai taps on his door, nor does he look at the man when he opens it. But Sai doesn’t say or do anything, just lets him keep pacing, working his angry energy out.

Finally, he manages to calm down enough to sit on the bed with a huff, rubbing at his face in agitation before collapsing back onto the bed, arms spread out. The bed dips beside him as Sai settles next to him. “What happened?” he asks softly.

“I won by resignation,” he mutters darkly.

“You don’t seem happy about it?” Sai observes, keeping his voice neutral.

“I…I think Isumi almost cheated,” he whispers, feeling angry tears forming in his eyes.

“Ah,” Sai says softly. “It’s frustrating, isn’t it?” he says, running a gentle hand over his hair. “I take it he didn’t go through with it, did he?”

“No,” he huffs out.

“How do you feel?” Sai asks softly, watching the storm of emotions flick across his face.

“I don’t feel like I earned this win,” he mutters, looking at his uncle with helpless frustration.

“In life, sometimes things happen that are out of our control. All we can do is accept it and try to keep from stumbling too much. Be angry and frustrated, but don’t take it into your next game. You will face him again and then, you can finally clear the air of this bad game,” Sai advices, expression that of understanding.

“Has anyone cheated with you?” Hikaru asks, looking at his uncle.

“It doesn’t happen often, but I’ve had a few, usually those weaker than myself who can’t stand to lose. Like what happened with your friend Mitani, eventually they get their comeuppance. Do you think Isumi did it intentionally?” he asks as the boy sits up.

“No, but he thought about it,” he says, taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly.

“And in the end, he chose the honorable route of resigning before the game could continue,” Sai says. “From what I’ve seen of him, he is probably beating himself up over this game as well.”

“You think so?” he asks quietly.

“I’m sure. Come on, let’s play a game to relax,” Sai says, standing and offering his hand to Hikaru with a gentle smile. Smiling wanly back, he takes it and lets Sai pull in out of the room and distract him with a fresh game.

~*~

Sai is pacing again in the observation room. It’s the final match, Hikaru’s final match and he’s so wound up in knots that he’s about to break in half. He’s been hearing people trickle in and out as games are won and lost but so far, no sign of Hikaru.

“Is it over?” someone says, rushing down the hall and he spins, unable to move, frozen to the spot. Did he win, did he lose? What’s going on?

Infinity seems to pass in the span of a few minutes before running feet come charging down the hall, shoving open the door in their haste and there’s Hikaru, face flushed with excitement, eyes shining, a grin so large it should hurt. “I did it!” he whispers excitedly.

Sai laughing, rushes up to the boy, throwing his arms around him, hugging him tight as Hikaru laughs in joy. “Congratulations, Hikaru,” he murmurs softly. “Welcome to the world of the Pros.”

~*~

Ogata stays to the back of the crowd as the award ceremony progresses. He’s already gone up himself for a few awards, so he can’t leave to have a cigarette just yet, but he’s craving all the same. The certificate ceremony for the new Beginner Dan should be starting soon. He’s met all three and Shindō, Waya and Ochi are all looking like future competition.

Following that line of thought, he turns to eye his current competition. Fujiwara-san is lingering near the back, like himself, but his eyes are trained on the stage as the new Pros are called out. He’s played him quiet often, especially in the last few years as the man climbed in rank.

Shindō’s name is called and the man claps the loudest and longest, eyes shining as he watches his nephew walk onto the stage. He’s not like most Pros, stoic and hardened by years of play. His enthusiasm and love of the game shines through in all he does. He’s free with his emotions and sincere in all he says. It’s…refreshing, actually after dealing with all the crap some of the other players do. He remembers that stunt Kuwabara did and can’t help but grind his teeth.

Shindō, Waya and Ochi are just coming down the side aisle and Fujiwara rushes up to them, congratulating them all for making it to this point. Even the standoffish Ochi is looking pleased by the man’s words.

He feels a presence next to him and looks down to see Touya watching the group. “What do you think?” he asks the teen.

Touya looks up at him, eyes blazing with excitement, “I can’t wait to play some more,” he murmurs, hands fisted.

Ogata just huffs good-naturedly but silently, he agrees. Nodding to Touya to follow, they head towards the group.

~*~

“What!” Hikaru yells, looking at Sai in shock.

“You heard correctly. Your opponent for your Beginner Dan Series game is Touya Meijin,” Sai says with a smile, enjoying his nephew’s shocked excitement.

“Oh, my heart is hammering,” he mutters, but his expression looks fierce at the thought.

“Your first game in the Room of Profound Darkness,” Sai murmurs. “Have you ever been in it?” he asks.

“Huh, oh, once. Waya showed it to me,” he says. Sai asks his next question with just a look and Hikaru grins, “It felt alive in there,” he admits.

“It’s a unique experience,” he agrees. “If you want, I can help you prepare for your game,” he offers.

“Please,” Hikaru asks, looking like the young teen he is in his uncertainty.

~*~

Hikaru looks like he’s run a mile as he emerges from the room at the end of his game, but…he grins at Sai bigger than life. Touya Meijin follows shortly behind him, face serious and composed. As the rest of the crowd continues passed them, Touya Meijin stays, his son emerging from the observation room Sai just exited.

Sai smiles, “Not so bad, was it?” he asks gently.

“I look forward to playing him again one day,” Meijin says with a faint smile towards Hikaru who ducks his head at the praise. His eye lands on his son, “Be on your guard, Akira, Shindō-san is coming up fast,” he jokes softly.

Touya smiling and turns sharp eyes on Hikaru, “I anticipate it.”

By now, Hikaru is flushing bright red. “We were going to celebrate his game, would you care to join us?” Sai asks the two Pros.

“We would be honored,” Touya Meijin agrees when Akira nods and the four makes their way from the Institute.

~*~

Sai huffs in relief as the warmth surrounds him upon entering the Go Salon. It’s early march and the cold is hanging on tight and if he’s any judge, it looks like it might snow tonight. Unwinding his scarf, he starts walking in deeper and looks ahead as the sound of raised voices reaches him.

Stepping properly into the Go Salon, he sees the source of the commotion, Hikaru and Akira arguing over a finished game, their hands gesturing wildly, flushed in the cheeks as they try to out shout the others. The other regular patrons are all watching the scene with mixed reactions, but most are indulgent.

Chuckling softly, he hands Ichikawa his charge for playing, the woman hiding a smile behind a hand as she watches the two young Pros go at it. “How long have they been at it this time?” he asks softly to her.

“About twenty minutes, Fujiwara-san. I’ve never seen Touya-kun so animated about a game, but I think Shindō-kun just gets under his skin sometimes,” she admits.

“Rivals tend to do that,” he agrees with a laugh. “I’ll go break it up,” he promises, walking in and waving hello to a few of the regulars he’s played and gotten to know.

The two don’t notice his approach, too caught up in each other and Sai pauses, eyeing them and wonders for a moment if there’s more to this than just rivalry. Tucking that thought away for later contemplation, he plops down in the seat near them, saying mildly, “I don’t think they heard you Beijing, but I doubt it will take much longer.”

Touya coughs, flushing in embarrassment at being caught in an argument by someone he looks up to and Sai grins at him. Hikaru just huffs with a shrug, “Maybe they’ll learn something,” he mutters.

“I’m sure, now what was this argument about?” he asks and leans close to look over the game, the two quickly explaining what they were discussing before they got into a shouting match.

~*~

“A four day exhibition?” Hikaru asks, looking down at the program guide that his uncle hands him. “What goes on in it?” he asks.

“Matches, shidougo, merchandise selling, you’ve been to one before, seen what it was like,” Sai says with a raised brow.

“Well, yes, but that was a one day event. I’ve not been to one this long and last time, I wasn’t in the actual event,” he grumbles, looking down at the schedule. “Jeez, they have the days jammed packed for us, don’t they.”

“Hmm, they try to get as much work out of the new Pros as they can. As we get higher, our schedules become a little more packed with different tournaments for the titles and such, so it’s harder to schedule us. It usually falls on the lower dan to fill in the gaps,” Sai says with a shrug, tying his hair back before reaching into the sink to start washing dishes.

“Hmm, let’s see, Waya, Ochi, Touya are in it. Oh, you’re going too! Ashiwara…Ogata…they certainly have a range of players,” he mutters, tossing the first page aside to look at the next. “You’ve got a demonstration match with Ogata as well,” he says with a grin. “You better not lose.”

“It’s not a serious match, so I’m not too worried,” Sai says with a shrug.

“It’s near the beach. Maybe we go on the fourth day, since we’re off,” he says, looking up at Sai.

“We’ll pack swim trunks, in case we decide to,” Sai agrees.

“Yes, alright, I’m going to start packing,” Hikaru declares, jumping up to run to his room, forgetting that the event isn’t for another week. Sai laughs when he finally remembers and is forced to come back looking sheepish.

~*~

“Shindō,” he hears called and Hikaru pauses and turns to see Touya walking up to him, his jacket over his arm.

“Touya-kun, your presentation ended?” he asks as the other boy comes level to him.

“Yes, a few minutes ago. I thought I would go watch Fujiwara-san and Ogata-sensei’s match,” he says, easily falling in step with Hikaru.

“Should be a good game,” he agrees, finding a seat close to the stage where the preparations for the match are nearly completed.

He waves at Sai who’s chatting with Ogata off to the side and the man waves back. A few minutes later, they make their way to the seats and Sai trips on the way across, smiling a little to the few chuckles as the man flushes in embarrassment.

Touya laughs softly as well, turning to look at Shindō and pauses, the boy’s face pinched with a strange expression. “Shindō-kun?” he asks softly.

“What?” he asks, shaking his head. “Oh, it’s nothing,” he assures, waving off the concerned look Touya is giving him and the young Pro can’t press further as the match starts.

As the match finishes, final discussions over various moves and shapes on the board completed, Hikaru and Akira make their way towards the side of the stage. The two 9-dan are just making their way down the side stairs when Sai pauses, his face paling sharply, hand clutching at the railing in a tight, white knuckled grip before suddenly his eyes roll up in his head and the man collapses.

Only Ogata’s quick reflexes keep the man from tumbling down the last few stairs, struggling under his dead weight and Hikaru rushes forward. “Sai!” he yells, rushing up to where Ogata has finally managed to lay him on the ground at the base of the stairs.

“Fujiwara-san,” someone calls but Hikaru isn’t sure who, hands frantically running over the man’s head and neck.

“Sai! Sai!” he whispers hotly, eyes growing wet. “No, no, come on, wake up,” he shakes his shoulder. “Don’t leave me too,” he hisses. _“Please,”_ he pleads, tears running down his cheeks.

Slowly, pale lids flutter open with a frown, purple eyes looking up at the crying Hikaru clutching at his shirt. “Hikaru, what?” he asks, looking around.

Like a puppet with its strings cut, Hikaru collapses to his chest, crying quietly. Touya and Ogata quickly disperse the crowd around them, assuring the hotel staff that an ambulance is not needed as of now.

“What happened?” Sai asks softly, slowly sitting up with a grimace.

“You fainted, Fujiwara-san,” Touya explains gently.

“Hikaru, I’m alright,” he assures to the teen still clinging to his shirt. “I just got light headed there and…well, I guess I fainted,” he mutters, looking put out by the fact that he caused such a scene.

Ogata kneels beside the man with a raised brow, “Fujiwara-san, when did you last eat?” he demands.

“What? I ate last night, and…and…,” he flushes.

“You skipped breakfast because we were running late,” Hikaru says softly, shifting back away from Sai some.

“And as I recall you had something scheduled during lunch as well,” Ogata adds with a huff of laughter when Sai’s stomach choses that moment to sound very loudly.

“Oh, I guess I’m hungry,” the man says with a self-conscious smile. He accepts Hikaru’s hand up and then pulls the teen closer. “I’m sorry I worried you,” he murmurs and Hikaru nods against his shoulder, still clinging.

It takes a few minutes for Hikaru to calm down and then he promptly drags Sai out of the event hall to the hotel restaurant to order dinner. Sai doesn’t put up a fight, the other two following and sending worried looks to the still silent teen.

~*~

“I’m fine, Hikaru, I swear. I won’t leave the hotel room, so go and take a shower and calm down,” Sai murmurs softly for the teen’s ears only. He’s spent the last hour glued to Sai’s side, even spending part of it clinging part of his shirt so he couldn’t wander away.

“Promise you won’t leave?” he demands, still looking shaken up.

“Hikaru, I swear, I will never willingly leave you,” Sai says, gently holding the boy’s face and smiling down at him. “Now go relax,” he says, and gripping his shoulder, he turns him around and gives a little shove towards the bathroom door.

“Okay, okay,” he mutters, grabbing a change of clothes and disappearing into the room, shutting the door behind him.

Sighing heavily, Sai slips out of the room back towards the living area of the large hotel room. “Everything alright?” Ogata asks from where he and Touya are seated next to a low table, a tray of tea and some cups sitting on it.

“No, but it will be,” he says with a tired huff, settling into one of the free chairs.

The silence between them is awkward before Touya finally speaks up. “He said ‘don’t leave me too’,” Touya says softly, looking down at his cup. “What did he mean?” he asks, looking up at Sai.

Sai exhalations nearly soundlessly, rubbing tiredly at his face. “It’s not a fun day to remember, but…a few years ago, there was an accident with a drunk driver. Hikaru lost his mother, father and grandfather in the accident. I think this was a shock to him and it’s shaken him some,” he admits, heart throbbing painfully as he recalls the stricken look on his nephew’s face. “He’s afraid to lose anyone else.”

“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that,” Touya murmurs, looking shocked by the news.

“How are you doing, Fujiwara-san?” Ogata asks, looking pointedly at the man.

“I guess I’m a little shaken too,” he admits wryly. “I certainly didn’t intend for this to happen.”

“I’m sure you didn’t,” Ogata says easily. “We should let you get some sleep,” he adds, looking at Touya who nods.

“We’ll see you in the morning, Fujiwara-san,” Touya says, bowing slightly to the man before he and Ogata leave, Sai closing the door on them.

He leans back against the door, exhaustion clinging to him. A few minutes later, the door to the sleeping area opens and Hikaru pokes his head out. “The bathrooms open,” he says, looking a little calmer but just as exhausted as Sai.

“I’m coming,” he says with a faint smile, walking to the door.

~*~

“Do you still want to go to the beach?” Sai asks on the morning of the fourth day as they share breakfast together.

“Yeah, I could go for some relaxation in the sun,” Hikaru says with a smile. He seems to be back to his normal, cheerful self, but Sai isn’t fooled and he doubts the fear will fade any time soon.

“Why don’t you see if any of your friends want to join us,” he says with a smile and Hikaru nods, pulling out his phone to start texting the other Pros his age.

Sai laughs at the peeved expression on Ogata’s face as he and Touya finally arrive at their spot on the beach. Waving the two over, he smiles up at them from under a large sun hat. “How did you get roped into this?’ he asks the other man who is currently slathered in sunscreen, dark shades perched on his nose.

“Someone plays dirty,” Sai hears him mutter, Touya smiling impishly before he says aloud, “I figured we should have at least two chaperones on this little unscheduled field trip.”

“Touya!” Hikaru shouts from the water’s edge and he waves before quickly depositing his bag, toeing off his shoes near the others messy pile and rushes towards the water, hoping a little at the heat.

With a soft groan, Ogata joins Sai under his umbrella. Wearing an open shirt and trunks, Ogata looks the most dressed down he’s ever seen, the man usually in full white suits whenever they’ve played a game. Sai himself is in a tank top and trunks, his own sunglasses perched on his nose as he reads under the umbrella.

“Water?” he asks, motioning towards the small cooler they brought.

“No thanks, I’m going to sleep,” he mutters, lying back and promptly doing just that.

Laughing softly, Sai just remains in his chair, reading while keeping an eye on the young Pros who have somehow even managed to convince Ochi to join them, though the boy looks less than thrilled to be here.

A few hours later, they all coming running up to tumble into heaps around the two adults, grabbing waters from the cooler and drinking it down. “Don’t forget more sunscreen,” he advices, looking to see a few of them starting to turn a faint red in spots.

Grinning, they do and rush back to continue playing in the sun. “Ugh, their energy just makes me even more tired,” Ogata grumbles, sitting up from his towel and glaring after them.

“They’re young. I’m sure you remember being that energetic at that age,” Sai teases.

“At that age, I was already studying under Touya-sensei and aiming to take my Pro exam. I didn’t have time to do all this,” he mutters with a wiggle of his fingers.

Sai snorts softly. “I was still at home and planning as well but I still did manage to make it to the beach a few times with Mitsuko,” he admits.

“Your sister?” he asks.

“Yeah,” Sai says, “We had so many plans,” he admits morosely.

“What happened?” Ogata asks quietly, keeping his gaze fixed on the playing teens.

“I chose Go over what was expected of me and was kicked out,” he says with a shrug. “Probably the best thing they could have done for me at the time or I might have chosen a different path,” he admits.

Ogata snorts, “I doubt that.” Sai looks at him questioningly.

“People like us don’t just change paths,” he explains with a small smile.

Sai smiles faintly back, “True.”

“Sai! Ogata-san, come play with us,” Hikaru shouts where the boys are gathered in the sand.

“That’s our cue,” he says, standing up gracefully. “Coming?” he asks, looking down at Ogata and pauses, seeing the man’s gaze traveling up his body and Sai flushes faintly.

“I’ll pass,” he says, lying back down with a smirk.

Turning away quickly, cheeks still flaming, he makes his way towards the boys who have managed to create a giant Go grid in the sand and are using rocks and shells to play as stones. The rest of the afternoon goes by in a like manner, though they do manage to get Ogata to join in, mainly by Waya and Hikaru dumping a bottle of cold water on him and high-tailing it from the Go Pro as he chases them across the sand.

~*~

**Epilogue**

Hikaru is sitting before the goban, listening to Sai get ready in the background. A knock at the door has him looking up and he calls out, “I’ve got it,” before heading to the door.

He opens the door and upon seeing Ogata, glares daggers at the man, “Oh, it’s you,” he mutters.

Ogata just smirks before arching a brow in challenge, “Ugh, fine, come in,” he gripes, stepping back to let Ogata and Akira in. He shuts the door and sees Sai coming down the hall, dressed up for the night out.

“Hello, Akira-kun, Seiji-san,” he says, smiling at the two Go Pros.

“Ready?” Ogata asks with a genuine smile.

“Just about,” he says patting his pockets before realizing he’s forgotten his phone and wallet and back tracks to his room. He comes back a few seconds later, tucking them into his pockets. “Don’t wait up you two and clean up any mess you make,” he says.

“Yeah, yeah, go on,” Hikaru mutters darkly, shooting another glare at Ogata before accepting the hug from his uncle. He follows and watches them walk down the path, Ogata’s hand on Sai’s back as he escorts him to his car and then he shuts the door.

“You really don’t like him?” Akira asks with a worried frown.

“Ugh, I like him, I just don’t trust him, not with Sai. Who knows what perverted things are going through his mind. Sai’s too kind and gentle and I don’t want anyone taking advantage of that,” Hikaru mutters.

“Ogata-sensei would never do such a thing,” Akira says.

“We’ll see,” he mutters but lets it drop as he and the other teen settle down for a game.

“Shh,” Sai murmurs as he unlocks the front door, Seiji behind him. The lights are on in the living room and he frowns before he takes in the scene. “Oh, isn’t that cute,” he whispers, Seiji coming up behind him, looking over his shoulder.

Hikaru and Akira are sound asleep stretched out on the couch, Akira curled up under Hikaru’s arm, cuddled together. “Hang on,” he says, pulling out his phone and snapping a quick picture and looking down at it fondly. He tiptoes closer and pulls the blanket off the couch and covers them up before motioning to Seiji to follow him deeper into the house.

“So, think they finally realized it?” Seiji asks as Sai shuts the door.

“We’ll just have to wait and see,” he says with a secretive grin, stepping up to the blonde and kissing him.

**End.**

**Author's Note:**

> Just so people are aware, the epilogue is when Hikaru and Akira are 17, three years later, since Hikaru became a pro at 14, like in the manga. Time is a little loose in this fic, so it can be hard to gauge ages sometimes.


End file.
